Diving in Cairns

Hi Ricki,

If you feel that you must do the PADI course in Cairns, try Deep Sea Divers Den 1st or Pro Dive Cairns 2nd.
Do the 5 day overnight/liveaboard course.
Happy diving

Prices range a lot in Cairns.
The cheapest is Down Under Dive. 2 days pool and 2 days on the reef with 5 dives. AU$320 + AU$65 in medical and reef tax.
Deep Sea Divers Den do the same thing but charge more. They do have a Liveaboard but cant give you prices on that.
The most expensive but the best is Pro Dive. 2 days pool, 3 days live aboard but its something like AU$700

Down Under Dive
Deep Sea Divers Den
Pro Dive
Before someone says "go from Port Douglas, the diving is better"
There is no open water dive course from Port Douglas.

Email tours.travel@hotmail.com
Its a discount travel agent in Cairns that knows who has specials on when

Right, Pro Dive is the best and McDonalds sell the best food.
You get paid to help Pro Dive or what?
I didnt tell him about Down Under Dive because he only asked about reliable arrangers of diving.
The 5 day course on Deep Sea Divers boat is better than Pro Dives, bigger more stable boat with way more room than Pro Dives ones.
Now Ive just seen the travel thing, you premote a tour company, explains it.

Im in Scotland

Im guessing you work for Deep Sea Divers Den.
They have a nice boat but if they still go to Norman, Saxon & Hastings Reef its still crap diving for the price.

I am not working for any Divers Den.
I was in Cairns some months ago and did a trip with Pro Dive and one with Deep Sea Divers Den.
I base my comments on my trips.
Diving was pretty much the same, boats were much diffrent, Pro Dive were anil inst.
Im not Inst but they treat us like small children, very bossy and all the time saying PADI this and PADI that.
I dive with a computer and they tell me I have to dive on the PADI tables.
Any way I still believe Deep Sea Divers offer a better 3 day trip.
Sorry if you do not agree.

Isn`t it so that someone loves the mother and someone the daughter ;) Anyway, it will be either Divers Den or Pro Dive. Maybe I just have to throw the coin and let it decide for me. Thank you guys for your replys.

Ricki

If you do a search on diving in Cairns you will find the same argument on each one.

I have honestly been on every boat out of Cairns and I wasnt happy with Saxon and Hastings reef.
With an open water course you will have to use the dive tables no matter which company you choose.
Because they have a schedual and want to dive on as many reefs as possible Pro Dive cut the dives down to 50 minutes each. With computers you can easily dive over an hour then everyone is waiting for the buddy group that has to be different.
Deep sea Divers Den only go to 2 reefs a day, one in the morning and one after lunch so you can use a computer and all youll miss out on is your lunch but like I said not in a OW course.
I know I put links on my post at number 2 but I didnt read them. If one is $100 cheaper or so, Id take that one.

Diving Dude, Why did you go on Pro Dive & DSDD? Were all the Northern trips and Osprey Reefs trips full? Much better diving up there and the same price as both trips put together. Sorry Ricki, no one does open water courses up there.

Hi Kuri, The trip back to Cairns was booked by some friends through a tour company in Cairns.
As I had been to Cairns before and was at the time working in New Zealand I decided to tag along.
As the companies used diffrent parts of the reef we thought it would be ok.
I was not doing a dive course, I have been diving for 9 years, so was not happy with Pro Dives instructors, I had more loged dives, dive courses/training and experance than most of them but still I get you are not instructor so you must do what we say.
My computer says Im ok but the PADI tables do not. I was not the only diver to have these problems with the crew.
I am a very safe diver and dont believe I make any trouble on the dive boats, this is the first time I have problems with a dive crew.
DD